Journey

Two Photographs

Flash Fiction

Granny’s smile has lots of secrets and lots of memories in it. She is always smiling, beaming; we can also count her wrinkles rising from her cheeks to her closed eyes; eyes shining with childlike brightness, watery eyes speaking the language of love.

It is early morning and everyone in the house is running hither and thither. Mummy is cooking food and packing the tiffin-boxes. The children are late once again and Daddy is going to give them a lift to the school. But Daddy himself cannot find his tie and the green file and somehow Mummy is managing everything right from the kitchen.

In this daily drama we see Granny sitting in the balcony, she is combing her grand-daughter’s plaits; Granny talks about her late grandmother who use to tie her plaits, to which her little granddaughter giggles up and says, ‘Granny you also had a Granny?’

Mummy shouts from the kitchen as the clock declares it is 8. Everyone is late!

In this relay race, this cute family is asked to stop and pose for a photograph. Daddy says no but the children agree and Mummy is caught between them; while everyone else hesitates only to agree in the end, the granddaughter brings Granny inside and both of them settle comfortably on the sofa for the photograph.

Say Cheese! Click!

Daddy is awkwardly smiling with a bad tie-shirt combination making him look funny; Mummy is smiling nicely and is hiding her apron behind her; the children are looking full of life and sleepy at the same time; the granddaughter is hugging her Granny and saying cheese loudly; Granny is smiling peacefully.

Daddy, Mummy and the children wish Granny a good-bye, she waves back at them from the balcony. They leave in their car and get mixed with the ‘bhroom-honk-honk-bhroom’ crowd on the road.

When Granny is asked about the brightness in her eyes and the secret behind her smile, she laughs musically and says, ‘thank you very much’.

Enjoying the scene from her gallery she seems to be waiting for somebody. She walks slowly to the kitchen like there is no need to hurry, this is how blessed she is, maybe this the reason behind her smile.

When we are about to leave the house, she calls us and asks us to meet her friend. Back in the gallery, Granny is feeding a stale roti to a crow with extreme joy in her eyes.

She indicates us to take her photograph with the crow. She is already saying cheese. Click!

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The Keyhole Trend

Posted on June 19, 2014 by Jagriti Rumi Bird Door Ends Fee Free Journey Shine Sky Small World The Keyhole Trend

Poem

**An amazing keyhole.**
**[Source – Pixabay]**

If you peep through the keyhole

The small world you see

Might look real and free

The sky, the bird, the tree

The building, the street and me

All with the round edge and incomplete

Half of the shine and half of the night

Half of the smile and half of the ride

When the journey ends, it ends

Though the keyholes are in trend

Laughing loudly at yourself you’ll see

One can open the door without any fee.

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Likewise!

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Jagriti Rumi Drab I Know Likewise Now Numb Poem Screams Smiled They

Poem

**The path I took…**
**[Image by Gudrun Becker from Pixabay]**

When I said, “I don’t know”

They said, “Hah, but we know.”

They don’t know me at all,

Standing up on the wall,

They look down at me and shout,

“You are dying silly, lookout.”

I tremble as the screams hit me,

Drab and numb, says my graphic tee…

I tumbled, tripped and hurt my toe,

But I stood up and decided to go.

I smiled and said, “I know now.”

They said to me, “But how?”

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Dusk

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Jagriti Rumi Dance Dusk Golden Colour Golden Light Hum Melody Poem Silent

Poem

**A silent melody!**
**[Source – Wikipedia]**

Can it be that I reach there

Where the golden light changes into golden colour

And bold red and deep orange strokes

All over the night full of violet stars

Hum together a silent melody…

Where I breathe cool wet air

And dance dance dance…

Then I dip my hand in the sky

And a pink sparkle snake

Shines and merges with the violet stars…

Where it is quietly blue and silver,

Where the golden light changes into golden colour

Can it be that I reach there?

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Are You Going To Scarborough Fair?

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Jagriti Rumi Cosmos Earth Humming Music Ribbon Scarborough Fair Smiling Brightly Sweetness Walking

Observation

**Vincent Van Gogh, *Field with Poppies*, 1889**
**On the way to Scarborough Fair…**
[Source – Wikipedia]

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?

The melody flows like a stream of water breaking the dryness of the earth, silently and smoothly.

Suddenly you are in a colourful and sweet world. And you listen for the first time to the rhythmic world and you realise that life is not heavy but it is light as a feather. The feather dances.

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?

By now you are humming and hoeing and weeding. This is what you want to do in life, with lots of time to sit under a tree, half sleepy, looking at the clouds you smile.

This is what you wish for, once you reach the Scarborough Fair.

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

**Vincent Van Gogh, *Poppies and Butterflies*, 1889**
**At the Scarborough Fair!**
[Source – Wikipedia]

And now you paint… after seeing so many colours you begin playing. Red hands, orange hands, yellow hands, green hands, blue hands, indigo hands, violet hands – you have given birth to a rainbow.

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?

Remembering that good old vision of the future and a memory of the past, all you actually need is a smile in the present.

While walking I realised that the Earth is walking and so is the cosmos, this jamming made me happy. The sweetness and the warmth and the lightness of this real and tangible feeling took me to the Scarborough Fair.

All I can say now is that I am swaying with the wind and smiling brightly. There is a ribbon, long and beautiful and silky, it is also swaying with the wind and smiling brightly.

You’ll find it too when you go to the Scarborough Fair.

**Vincent Van Gogh, Poppy Field 1890**
**Swaying at the Scarborough Fair along with the poppies.**
[Source – Wikipedia]

Listen to the blissful track – Scarborough Fair by Simon & Garfunkel – that inspired the blogger to write this post.

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Sky Blue Sky

Posted on February 2, 2014 by Jagriti Rumi Blue spirit Love Painter Poem Promises Sky blue sky Time

Sky blue sky

Asks me why

There is no time

To live the time

Which is mine?

Sky blue sky

Tells me why

Smiles are better,

Far more better

Than promises on a letter

Sky blue sky

Shows me why

The painter paints

Alive, very happy and

In love, he paints

Sky blue sky

Knows why

Two eyes

Look at the sky-

To take the blue spirit inside.

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In The Wonderland

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Jagriti Rumi Journey Know Oneself Think Ultimate Wonderland

**Living like Alice!**
**Image from Pixabay.**

“One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree.

‘Which road do I take?’ she asked.

‘Where do you want to go?’ was his response.

‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered.’

Then’, said the cat, ‘it doesn’t matter.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

How true! Nothing matters at all until you know where you want to go. Sometimes we don’t think and we reach nowhere, as that is what we had thought of. Then at times, we think we know where we want to go but we find ourselves cheated or fooled and so we halt. There are also a few among us who don’t stop and finally reach an end of a journey.

Mostly, the circumstances around us influence our decisions and we find that we have become a part of a huge structure. This happens a lot.

The best thing that we can try to do is to know where to go, uninfluenced by anyone; in knowing one’s way and steadily walking ahead and smiling on the way as it is ‘our way’.

Knowing oneself is not easy but is ultimate.

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The Report

Posted on July 27, 2013 by Jagriti Rumi Earth Report Species

Gita came from some other time and some other place. She was here to understand the reason behind what happened, why it happened and how it happened. Astonishingly, it didn’t take her long to find the fault. She filed her report and returned back.

Place: Earth

Century: 21^st

About: Earth and its Inhabitants

I observed people. I observed a lot. The answer came quickly to me- a mad, blind, cruel race. There is a rush here on Earth; an urgency to finish one thing and to start another. At the moment materialism rules here and the motto of majority of the people is ‘more is good’. More and more of everything, no matter what it costs and what the result might be. 90% of the most advanced and intelligent species (Homo sapiens sapiens) don’t utilise their intellect and rather stay busy in following whatever they think should be followed. The other 5% remains occupied in taming the 90% through a monetary system and though they continuously rule the lives of the others they don’t like to show off or call themselves as Leaders, Monarchs, Kings etc., but prefer names like Bank Owners, The Elites, etc. They are probably of a shy nature. The last 5% of this species try to spread truth and equality but mostly meet a fatal end (especially if caught in the lime light).

The thing that I found silly, but which is actually very sad, is that this species has no respect for the very planet they live in i.e. the Earth. They are continuously ruining it, foolishly misusing it and most importantly they show no reverence towards the great planet. Almost all believe in a spiritual power or God (a name given to this spiritual power by them) but few believe in the magnificence of their planet. Strangely, they have faith in the unobservable but not in the observable.

I visited many places on this planet and I faced troubles almost everywhere. I noticed that the most gifted and talented are the young ones of this species but sadly they are not given much importance. Slowly, the society shapes them according to their norms.

Conclusion:

Earth is a beautiful planet ruled by the species Homo sapiens sapiens. This species is powerful but believes more in following blindly, in only dreaming, in talking, and talking more, and less in doing or acting (in the true sense of the word). They try to search for the Spiritual One outside and they know very little about the inside. The evolution has stopped so far and degradation has started instead.

The blogger wrote this post long, long, long back, and probably when she was feeling utterly hopeless.

Dear reader, check out the following posts to rekindle hope and joy within (you too may read it, o-me-from-the-past):-

Spirited Away and the Art of Forgetfulness

Paper-Light-Lemon-Fresh-Stories

Message from Mandarin D

The Old Fortune-Teller’s Special Offer

Ninety-Nine Times out of a Hundred

To The Moon and Back

Life-Affirming Pair of Socks with Three Holes in It

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Buddhahood

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Jagriti Rumi Bodh Gaya Buddhahood Gautama Buddha Journey Life Peace

The place where the embodiment of peace, Gautama Buddha, found enlightenment was recently shaken by bomb blasts. The holy Bodh Gaya shrine became the target of those who believe in destruction. The government has started the probe and they are confident of finding the culprits. Meanwhile, the Buddhists are back to chanting and praying, back with the Lord himself.

Dhauli Shanti Stupa, Bhubaneswar, Odisha [Photo by Jagriti Rumi]
Dhauli Shanti Stupa, Bhubaneswar, Odisha [Photo by Jagriti Rumi]
Dhauli Shanti Stupa, Bhubaneswar, Odisha [Photo by Jagriti Rumi]
Dhauli Shanti Stupa, Bhubaneswar, Odisha [Photo by Jagriti Rumi]
Dhauli Shanti Stupa, Bhubaneswar, Odisha [Photo by Jagriti Rumi]

Such blasts cannot stop what Gautama Buddha started. He commenced an inward journey; a journey to find oneself, to realise the inner self and hence attain inner peace. What the confused and angry minds cannot understand (and may never understand until they end their confusion and calm down) is that what Buddha taught and left behind is not stored in a shrine or in a scripture or in any physical form.

What he left is eternal and universal. It is in nature and it is nature. It can only be felt and realised and not be touched with bare hands. It is everywhere and in everyone waiting to get recognised.

The ones who stubbornly want to fight don’t know that Buddha is in them too. Buddha is in all of us; when we act purely, correctly and truly the Buddhahood shines in us too. How can something so powerful be destroyed? How can something so true be crossed? We mere mortals can never do so; our futile attempts will only look ridiculous.

You need not worry about any evil in this world; all you need is to reach the state of Buddhahood, to let it shine in you. Radiating light everywhere you’ll then fulfil the purpose of being you.

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Failed Successfully

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Jagriti Rumi Diary Entry Failure Green Leaf Life Mountains Nature Rendition Successfully Wind Window

Flash Fiction

**View from the window…**
[Source – Pixabay]

Sitting by the window and watching the wind do its customary dance, Kent wrote a line in his diary and stopped. The line said, ‘I failed again.’ Dry leaves and twigs joined the wind hesitatingly…a bit shy but tending. Kent took a sip of his hot coffee. He flailed the pen in his hand and then began to write-

Again. I try and then I fail. I wonder how I have reached so far when all I can do is to fail. I sink low every time and it becomes difficult to make a comeback. The sympathy, the taking my side, the hiding my faults…I hate when people do this to me. It hurts me more. But I am the reason of the burden I am carrying.

After another sip, Kent again checked the rendition. He couldn’t hear it clearly but was sure about the charming song that the wind played. Huge trees rhymed along, they were so great yet so modest; nature knows some marvellous secrets that make it awe-inspiring.

I have nothing to say anymore. I wish I could visit Mrs Graceland’s house, the backyard and the trail that led to the jungle and the brook with leaves and twigs wafting in it.

If only I could sit there for some time alone. My heart would pour itself in the brook and I am positive that I could then breathe without feeling the knots. The jungle, the brook they don’t know that I have failed. They will not demand any answers nor will they console me. I will be with them and they’ll welcome me.

But with time things start eluding and you feel silent, empty and helpless; a mere bystander.

Kent’s sigh sounded heavy and blue. He searched for something in his room and finding it his eyes rested upon it; a wall clock that made him conscious and humble. He lost himself for some time. Coming back he looked at his diary and wrote-

I think I have failed in putting my thoughts in words. I am sorry dear diary. I think I should just stop writing and….

**A green leaf in autumn.**
[Image by Jagriti Rumi]

At this moment he found a leaf knocking on his window. He stared for few minutes waiting for it to fly away but it didn’t. He stretched his hand reluctantly and opened the window.

Taking the leaf in his hand Kent watched the scene and without waiting for his permission the wind touched his face and made his hair dance. A smile came on his face naturally.

The power of the wind amazed him, the music enthralled him; he could feel the spirit, the liveliness that was abundant in nature. Peeking through his window Kent stood for long in that position unaware of the clock, the pen, the diary, the leaf and himself.

It was getting dark. He forced himself to shut the window. With nature you don’t know when the time passes and if you happen to know you wish it to go slow.

Sitting back on his chair and before he could finish his diary entry, he examined the leaf in his hand. It was green. It was autumn. It was a message. Life loves to live. Who loves life lives…happily.

Kent finished his diary entry.

I can’t believe myself but I am going to try again, maybe I’ll fail again. It doesn’t matter. I’ll never stop walking because I never know what is there for me on the next turn. I am going to die one day, I don’t want to die before that.

Cheers to the green leaf!

Kent

And now, listen to Vashti Bunyan’s album Just Another Diamond Day, this is one of Kent’s favourite tracks, one that he listened to after finishing his diary entry –